


Welcome to My World

by ana



Category: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Genre: Female Friendship, Friendship, ImpSec, Recruitment, Souvenirs, Spies & Secret Agents, Stress Relief, The Day Job, Toys, Vor Society
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-04
Updated: 2015-08-04
Packaged: 2018-04-13 00:45:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4501299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ana/pseuds/ana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A glimpse into Gregor’s day.  </p><p>It’s set about a year after Gregor and Laisa’s marriage.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Welcome to My World

**Author's Note:**

> Eve Sorrentti is an ImpSec agent, singer and student who was friends with Laisa way before Laisa met Gregor. She’s half Barrayaran, and Illyan hired her six years ago. 
> 
> Eve and Illyan's background is [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4240605/chapters/9594417)  
> but it is not required reading for this tale.
> 
> There are certain objects in this tale I borrowed from one of my other fics so if you get any déjà vu it’s due to alternate universes…or you’re in the matrix.

 ***

This was why Gregor didn’t attend these meetings. It wasn’t solely the fact that they were no further forward to agreeing to the treaty changes, but it was people like that Rupert fellow, who looked about twelve. He’d side tracked everyone by informing the room that no one had ‘meetings’ anymore. They had ‘conversations’. He told them all that he’d written a famous memo on this topic, and it had transformed the results in his department on Beta Colony. Oh, and he’d bought a copy along for the Barrayarans, who he appreciated were still behind the times on such developments but now they could benefit from this wisdom.

Gregor stood up before he or one of his staff told Rupert _exactly_ what he could do with his memo. Everyone stood with him and exchanged perplexed looks until Alain said, “Half hour break.” They knew the drill, and Gregor left the room with only Alain.

Alain cleared his throat and Gregor held up his hand. “Not wise to speak to me right now.”

They walked in silence. The Betans would think the walkout was a tactic but that was their issue, as was everything else, he thought sourly. The meeting was on the simplest (hah!) level about closing the loopholes in the extradition treaty. All brought to light due to the incident with the Betan lawyer/embezzler who’d found his way to Barrayar and walked straight through the loophole to claim asylum on a technicality. (Of course the Betans had no idea that ImpSec had recently hired one of the Betan's most wanted criminals for one of their own and had given her a Barrayaran nationality – another extradition loophole.  Gregor was quite assured they’d never find out about her and he liked to think of it when the Betans were being at their most patronising).

Gregor wouldn’t normally sit in these meetings, he trusted his staff, but the Betans, with their rotating, ridiculously youthful staff with infinite titles, were, to put it technically, taking the piss. This meeting wasn’t about extradition. He wasn’t born yesterday. It was about several military contracts coming up for renewal. They wanted to throw their weight around, put on a show. Well, he could put on a show too. He recalled the look on their faces when he’d walked into the room in the middle of the meeting; he’d worn his house uniform too, adding to the dog and pony show and then there was the surprise they’d shown when they saw he knew what they were talking about  - it was insulting but satisfying too.

He turned again and stalked down another hallway, absently acknowledging staff and heading into his personal quarters.

His presence at the meeting was a signal to all of them that there would be an agreement today. Or else. His staff had a list of the ‘or else’ but he told them to sit on it. He was going to spin this out until the right moment. But damn it, today he loathed it.  Games to gain an edge but no resolution. Even when everything was signed off, nothing was ever…fixed. Nothing was ever over.  Nothing tangible to hold in his hands and say – yes, it’s done. Yeah, today he was in one of _those_ moods. A punch bag wouldn’t do it; he knew that, this was something else; he needed to see Laisa first. He was sure she was free this afternoon. He knocked on her private parlour and entered.

And walked in on a petite woman holding up a figurine, “Guess who this is– ah – um, hey there…sire.”

Oh, perfect. Eve.  As usual, dressed in long boots, a knee-length layered dress and a long jacket. Today she was in bottle green. Gregor had never seen her wear any other kind of outfit. And as usual she’d said ‘sire’ in that way, as if she wasn’t quite sure if he was the emperor or not. (Her hesitation always made him want to see if his face had changed somehow.) Not that they’d had many conversations, and never a private one; perhaps that had been the problem of their few awkward encounters.

Gregor nodded politely. “Eve.  All well I trust?”

“Yeah, great and…Alain, right?” Eve asked.

Alain nodded too, taking the lead from his emperor but in less terse tones, said, “It’s nice to see you again, mademoiselle. Sire?”

“5 minute mark,” he said, Alain nodded and left the room leaving Gregor alone with Eve.

“Does he know who I am?” Eve asked staring at the closed door.

“That you’re an agent?  Yes, he knows. Alain knows all.”

“Not much of a secret identity; the amount of people who now know about me is growing by the minute.”

“Are you questioning the integrity of my staff, Eve?”

“Not out loud,” she said and Gregor pretended he hadn’t heard.

“Laisa on her way?”

“Yeah, she had to get something.” Eve had side stepped in front of the table but not even her wild, wavy hip-length hair could hide the imposters – the nine six inch figurines that lined the table and the tenth one that she held in her hands. Gregor knew this room to its last ornament. It was his wife’s favourite parlour; decorated in colours like her eyes, with (blast proof) glass balcony doors reflecting the sky; the room where they’d shared their first kiss. A room that had definitely never contained ten ugly looking figurines with oversized heads, bug-eyes and sour expressions.

“Interesting friends you’ve brought with you,” Gregor said motioning to the figurines.

“Oh. Well. They’re just some gifts I was going to show Laisa. I went shopping in this really seedy – never mind. I’ll put them away. I assume you’re here for Laisa which I completely understand if she has to go do her Empress thing so I may as well pack up this stuff.”

“There’s no need,” Gregor said, stepping up to the table and preventing her from packing the ugly figurines into the equally ugly plastic bag she’d just picked up.  Gregor took his time as he perused them, with Eve watching. Interesting. She was edgy. Eve was never nervous around him. If anything, she seemed irritated at him for having the audacity to fall in love with her friend and make things more complicated in their friendship.  But here she was – wanting a quick getaway. He knew it shouldn’t but it gave him a perverse pleasure to keep her waiting.

“Are they supposed to be parade uniforms?” Gregor asked, bending slightly as he eyed the garish red colour uniform on the figurines.

“No!” she said sharply and then lightly, “I mean – um – just because it’s red and gold doesn’t mean it’s anything like that. They’re just weird looking toys, I thought L would get a kick out of them.”

L. Gregor couldn’t stand that her nickname for Laisa was L. Why reduce a beautiful name like Laisa to a letter?

“Because if it was,” Gregor continued, “that would make them tourist souvenirs but it doesn’t look like any of the official merchandise I’ve seen.”

His eyes turned to meet hers staring at up at him in surprise. He was getting a lot of that today.

“You know what _all_ the official merchandise is?” Eve asked.

“Yes. I insist on seeing it now, so I know what dross is being produced.”   And God, during his wedding people had outdone themselves producing that dross.

“Isn’t that job about a hundred miles below your pay grade?” she asked. He flashed a smile at her and she took a step back.

“No job is below my pay grade where my worlds are concerned, Eve.”

Laisa arrived with her bouncy step. “Gregor,” she said, breezing into the room, brightening his day instantly. She greeted him with a cheek kiss, and as always he wanted to smother himself in her – _no, can’t think about that now_.  “Eve showing you her tacky Barrayaran souvenirs?” Laisa asked after Gregor returned the kiss.

“I never said that,” Eve said quickly, to Gregor’s raised eyebrow. “L misunderstood.”

“No I didn’t, you said-“

“I just said _gifts_ , jokey gifts” Eve said firmly. “ _Nothing Barrayaran_ about these at all.  And anyway I’m sure you have stuff to do so I’ll take these home–“

“This is interesting,” Gregor said and scanning the loose neck on the figure, he pressed the head.

“Greetings!” The figurine crackled, head bobbing from side to side. “I am the Emperor of Barrayar!”  And then the rest of its speech was garbled.

Laisa gasped and covered her mouth. “Good God.”

Eve bit her lip. “Huh. How about that. It talks!”

Gregor was speechless.  

“It’s a just a toy,” Eve said her voice pitching, “I mean no one would think it’s you…sire. It’s freaky and miserable looking and you’re you know…um…well. No one looks like their – eh. I need to go to the bathroom.”

“So you can make your escape?” Laisa asked.

“You shush.”

Gregor picked up the figure and looked at the base knowing exactly what he wouldn’t see.  “No official stamp. You’d think an ImpSec employee would know better than to purchase illegal merchandise.”

“Eve!” Laisa said in scolding tones, and Gregor could hear the laughter in her voice. Eve’s face was a picture.

“No one really enforces those rules, do they?” Eve asked. “It’s just a bit of - no! No! Don’t-“

Gregor had pressed the head again, but instead of speaking, the head shot off sideways, ricocheted off the wall and loudly shattered the tall vase at the other end of the room. Gregor swiftly gave the code to stop his overzealous staff from entering and implementing a lockdown.  “It’s fine,” Gregor added, as he spoke into the comm pin on his collar, “apparently my head just shot off and broke a vase **.”**

All three of them continued to stare at the blue vase shards littering the pale rug, with the small head lying amongst the debris.

“Well,” said Eve drawing out the word in a long breath. “Looks like my work here is done. I’ll get my coat shall I?”

“Eve, don’t worry,” Laisa said choking out a laugh, “it was an accident.”

“Maybe it can be put back together,” Eve said desperately, walking over and peering down at what the foot tall vase had been reduced to. “And I tried to warn you so it’s not my fault – not completely. If you press the head twice the head shoots off. They’re faulty…I thought it was funny. I didn’t mean to break your vase. Oh God, it wasn’t valuable, was it?”

“Eve, can you please bring me the head?” Gregor asked, as if this was a perfectly normal question, “Laisa, I need to talk to Eve alone.”

Eve shook her head rapidly at Laisa who exchanged a look with Gregor, and then squeezed Eve’s arm. “Don’t be an idiot. I’ll see you later.”

“Traitor,” Eve muttered as she left, and then turned to the emperor who motioned her to take a seat. “You know,” said Eve walking towards the chair. “I’m really valuable to Allegre and he wouldn’t like it if I disappeared…sire. Laisa would be mad too. And my father. Also I have several overdue library books **.”**

Eve seated herself opposite him, placed the head on the small table between them and Gregor flashed that smile.  “So, Eve…having a bad day?”

Eve let out a laugh that bubbled out more, and Gregor joined her too. She ran a hand through her unruly hair and sighed. “You know, that smile of yours is lethal. It should come with a warning.”

Gregor, being the gentleman, didn’t respond to the compliment but was oddly gratified that he’d managed to dent Eve’s hostility. “Let’s see what we can do for this poor fellow – who looks nothing like me.”

“Indeed.”

He could just take this to his workroom, but not today. He’d have the rest of them moved there though. He was going to enjoy this.  It had been a while since he’d had something real to fix rather than things his staff purposely broke to have him fix. (He wished they would stop doing that). He pulled a small pallet out of his inside pocket, unfolded it and selected the right tool, feeling the weight and coolness in his grip. He began to take the figure apart and he immediately saw where the shoddy workmanship was at fault. As he worked, he ignored Eve’s small exclamation of surprise and talked to her. Not a talk he wanted to have but best to nip this in the bud.

“I’m not naïve, Eve. I know people sell and buy illegal items every day. But you’re not people.” He selected a different tool. “What if this went on your record?  It may seem petty but I’m sure you’re aware that as long as the list is of those who support your work, there is a longer line of those still waiting for an excuse to pull the program.”

He looked up then but Eve was staring at the tools. “Hobby?”

“Yes.”

“Custom made kit or you make it yourself?”

“Both,” he said tersely.

“None of my business?”

“Thank you.”

Eve nodded and asked nothing further and Gregor began to understand more why Laisa valued this woman’s friendship.

“Is there a reason you bought ten?” Gregor asked.

“Laisa did tell me you never miss a detail,” she murmured. “It’s for a game.  I saw some kids playing with them  They mark them up and see if they can knock the heads off their opponent’s - who ever loses has to give all their heads to the winner.” She shrugged.  “I thought it was harmless fun.” 

“I see that,” Gregor said. “You’ve certainly shown your naivety by bringing them into my home; unless you’re trying to sabotage your career?”

Eve looked incredulous. “I know it’s considered illegal but-“

“It’s not just that.” He placed the tool back carefully in the pallet and held up the figure. “A rumour starts. Eve Sorrentti gave the empress, her very good friend by the way, a gift of ten headless emperors because she knew the new empress – _that Komarran_ \- would find it funny.”

Eve gasped. “You know that’s not – it’s not like that!”

Gregor nodded. “But the truth will have nothing to do with it. And I’ll take it further. For the people who know your work. That Eve Sorrentti, whose skills in unarmed combat and surveillance manages to get her in and out of the most secure premises; the one who helped rescue a diplomat’s son’s from Cetaganda, _without leaving a trace_. Isn’t she the same one who brought those headless emperors to the empress? She spends a lot of time alone with them both -”

“You can stop now.” Eve let out a long breath. “You can stop.”

 Gregor saw how much she’d paled and turned back to his tools. “I’m not saying this to be cruel, Eve and I would bet that you had an inkling of some of this or you wouldn’t have been so defensive.”

Out of the corner of his eye he could see she’d pulled some of her hair forward and was braiding it. He’d never seen her do that before and wondered if it was on her nervous tells.

She sighed.  “I admit I was…uneasy but I can’t say I thought of any of that. I mean I thought I was paranoid but you’d win awards. Anyway I had the oddest déjà vu when I bought them. It was the first time I’d gone back to an area like that,” she added thoughtfully.

“What area?” he asked, giving her his full attention, but she looked down at her braiding. “The dirt poorest area of the Caravanserai; like the place I grew up in.” She shook her head then, as if shaking off a memory, and met his eyes with a slight smile. “Or maybe I bought them in one of my parallel lives and I was remembering that.”

“If you had,” he said, “I’m sure it wasn’t wise in that life either.” He wasn’t going to take that bait so Eve could side track them into talking about her theories on alternative universes.

“I apologise, sire,” Eve said with a seriousness that took him by surprise as much as the sudden apology. “I didn’t mean to insult you or make things hard for Laisa – that’s the last thing I want.  You’re right. I should have known better...I don’t usually make mistakes like that.”

“I know.” That’s what had concerned him. He’d followed Eve’s career since the start and there wasn’t so much as a blemish. “Having women like yourself work at this ImpSec level is unprecedented, Eve. The work you’ve all done and are doing has surpassed many peoples’ expectations. You’ve dealt with the difficulties with grace and unique solutions – it’s all vital evidence for our side. But there is also that which can be used as a stick to beat this program down and taint you. It won’t take much. I don’t want that. Allegre doesn’t want that and I know you don’t want that so…apology accepted and we’ll say no more about it.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” Gregor said firmly, going back to his tinkering. That conversation had gone better than he’d expected.

“Thanks and good because Laisa means a lot to me and one of the reasons I returned to Barrayar was that friendship – I want to keep it, not sacrifice it.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” he said, but seeing the look on her face, he narrowed his eyes. “I sincerely hope you weren’t thinking I was going to ask you to do so.”

Eve bit her lip.

 “I see,” Gregor said, carefully placing the soldering iron on the pallet. Her initial hostility was beginning to make much more sense. “And what exactly have I done to deserve that accusation?”

Eve let out a laugh and then held up her hands in defence. “I’m sorry, but it’s just odd to me that you’re more annoyed about this than the mini emp – toys. Look, let me explain. I sang at events at the embassy on Earth and it never mattered to me that people looked down on me. I had no Barrayaran pedigree – they kept telling me so – but I didn’t care. I’d made friends but when it came down to it the powers that be made sure I was seated nowhere near the high tables and only one family ever invited me into their home. I’m still great friends with them.”

“The expats on Earth are representative of no one but themselves,” Gregor said, “you’ll get that narrow thinking here but not in such concentrated doses.” Gregor had no idea how they’d become so puffed up with their Vor importance on Earth. He hoped most of them stayed on Earth and never returned home.

“But that’s what I mean,” Eve explained. “I didn’t care cos I could be myself. I could say what I wanted. I’m not saying I caused trouble; I picked my battles and if I had to stand up to the patronising, insulting snobbery and accusations about my mental state – I did. But now everyone knows I’m friends with Laisa. And haven’t you just made the point that -”

“Now it matters what you say,” Gregor said with a nod. “And you’re right, it does.” He picked up the figure. “Everything you do or say will be picked on, but you assumed my solution would be to tell Laisa to get rid of you?”

“No, she’d never do that,” she said undoing her braid. “I thought you’d ask me to keep my distance.”

And face the wrath of his wife? Not a chance.

“I know which battles to pick too, Eve. My wife,” yeah, he still loved saying that, “is very choosy about her friends and I trust her, so even if I’d prefer everyone was perfect it’s not my business if they aren’t – as long as they have clearance, of course,” he added with a smile. “I won’t say it’ll be easy for you but I know you’ll do it. You’ve survived worse battles.”

Perhaps he should ask Alys to find someone appropriate to squire Eve around town, someone savvy in the ways of Vorbarr Sultana society. “But you’re taking a break now, I’ve heard?”

Eve nodded. “I’ll take the odd mission but I made a deal with Illyan a long time ago and Allegre is honouring it. It’s time I concentrated on getting my degree and that’s what I’m doing. I just hope the program will still be there when I’m done.”

“It may still be called a program but it’s not temporary. Everything you’ve done these past six years, all of it is too valuable for it to be reduced to-“

“A litmus test? That’s what Cobalt says we are. Testing the waters for the real women recruits that may follow.”

Cobalt was the codename of the Betan they’d hired. An ex-LPST, wanted by the Betans, who’d surgically altered her entire appearance and now worked with Eve and the others.  Gregor and Illyan had had qualms at the beginning but had not had any cause to regret giving her the chance - in exchange for some valuable Betan intel of course. 

“Not _may_ follow, _will_ follow,” Gregor corrected. “It’s inevitable.” As the women in his life had told him for many years. The timetable had been brought forward by the discovery of Eve and had propelled them to those other inevitabilities.

“Cobalt is wrong and right,” Gregor continued, and he pointed the tiny soldering iron at her. “ _You’re_ one of the ones setting the standards, Eve.  You’ve set them. We don’t intend on losing any of you. But some of you will remain a secret, you understand why, surely. The nature of the work, especially Cobalt’s, makes it so. Your work during the Komarran riots wouldn’t have been possible if-”

“I understand all that.” There was a long pause before she spoke again. “Any chance of you telling me just how many women are secretly working at my level?”

“That’s Allegre’s department,” Gregor said, as he put the figure back together. Eve’s face told him enough that Allegre didn’t want to share that information and Gregor respected his reasons. He felt the buzz in his ear and Alain’s, “Five minutes, sire.” He pressed his pin. “Thank you, Alain.”

“I know my worth, sire,” Eve said, “and I’m proud to serve.  I know that just like the Komarrans, we’re watched more closely but in our case it’s because we’re women. Illyan always made that clear. But the irony is, I would never have got into ImpSec via any conventional route. Not with my background. Illyan recognised I had something and he saw it in Cobalt and Indigo too and I know now that Allegre sees it too.” She added softly, “and I suspect now that a lot of this program is to do with you.”

“Some. The credit is shared among more people than you would think.”

“I’m glad but no matter how the recruitment works in the future, I don’t think it will have anything in place to give people like me a chance.”

“I disagree. Don’t worry about that, Eve. Other less conventional avenues have always been there, for men too.  We see talent, we grab it when we can. That’s not going to change.” 

“I hope you’re right.”

He stood the intact figure between them on the table. “Done.”

“You fixed it?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said, and added a touch mockingly, “it may be one thing but no one can say that the emperor didn’t fix anything today.”

“Not just one thing.” Eve leaned forward and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “Thank you.” There was so much weight behind those words that he took her hand and kissed it.

“And thank you. Well, here we go.”  He pressed the head twice of the figurine and it stayed in place. “Greetings,” the figure proclaimed. “I’m the Emperor of Barrayar. Welcome to my World.”

Eve looked over at the table with the nine other figures. “You’re going to confiscate the lot aren’t you?”

“All but one,” he said, handing her the intact emperor. And after he'd fixed them all, he'd incinerate them - not that he'd tell her that. “This one’s yours. Gift from me to you. _Don’t_ try and take it off planet.”

She grinned and angled her head, surveying him with her odd flickering eyes.  “I wish we’d had this chat a long time ago.”

“Chat, conversation or meeting?”

“Sorry?”

And so to lighten things up, he told her about Rupert’s memo and they shared a moment of laughter, before they returned to their respective battles.

**Author's Note:**

> Oodles and oodles of thanks to Gwynne, Sue and Zoya1416 for valuable beta reading, feedback and EVERYTHING!!


End file.
